Mariah Dillard (Earth-1010)
Mariah Dillard was born in Harlem where she was raised by the Stokes family under the leadership of Mama Mabel. When another relation left the baby Cornell Stokes on their doorstep, Dillard was given the responsibility of raising him. During her time in the household, Dillard witnessed Mabel selling guns and running prostitution rings, however Mabel pushed Dillard to focus on her education. Dillard however also had to deal with her uncle Pistol Pete who would sexually abuse her, causing Mabel to send her away to various posh schools. While Dillard was studying and Stokes was playing the piano one day, Dillard and Pete recommended to Mabel that Stokes be sent to a posh school to continue his music. They then witnessed Pop arriving with Donnie, only for Pop to be sent away and Mabel to confront Donnie for selling drugs on the streets of Harlem. When Donnie tried to defend his actions by claiming that selling drugs was the only way to make money, Mabel responded by cutting of his fingers while sending Dillard upstairs to continue her study and not witness what happened next. Executing Pistol Pete From her window, Dillard heard Mama Mabel forcing Cottonmouth to shoot Pistol Pete for betraying the family, which he refused at first. Mama Mabel kept forcing and encouraging him to shoot, while Pete was encouraging him not tot. Discreetly, Dillard watched from the window waiting to see Pete's death. When Cottonmouth was unable shoot him, Dillard walked outside and told Cottonmouth that Pistol Pete deserved to die. Cottonmouth then executed Pete while Dillard watched. Political Campaign Madame Councilwoman Dillard eventually became involved in politics and nominated herself to represent Harlem within the city council. While visiting Harlem's Paradise to see Cornell Stokes, Dillard listened to Raphael Saadiq. Dillard and Stokes went on to discuss their improvement of the Paradise since Mama Mabel's death, with Dillard noting how proud she was of her cousin. He reminded her of Colon's Gym donation for him and her real-estate project, which disgusted her that he would make a deal with a drug lord and told Stokes that politics was the only true form of power. However, Stokes still reminded her that whenever it was not politics, it was his method of crime that kept her work stable. The pair were then joined by Domingo Colon, and Dillard questioned why he was there. Stokes explained his deal should have happened while Pistol Pete was alive. Colon asked if he made this deal, then Dillard would get him out of jail, much to her disagreement, noting what had happened to Kingpin. Stokes remained confident and reminded her that if she disagreed with his methods, she would not front him for money. He then described to Dillard and Colon about the Hammer Industries weapons that Diamondback gave him. Dillard, however, disagreed that this deal could not be as easy. Later, Stokes would get the news of an inside job which interrupted the deal, involving Dante Chapman, Shameek Smith and Chico Diaz, keeping that information secret from Dillard. New Harlem Renaissance While holding a benefit for the "New Harlem Renaissance" campaign, where she greeted all the children attending, Dillard caught sight of Zip and Sugar watching her closely, much to her annoyance. During an interview with Megan McLaren, she explained her purpose for the Crispus Attucks Complex and her vision for a better Harlem. During the interview, Cornell Stokes arrived and waited for her with Shades and Tone. With the interview done, Dillard told Stokes she wanted his thugs away from her. Telling her assistant, Tony, to leave, Dillard demanded the money from Stokes, stating that federal grants were used to build Harlem's Paradise and the deal with Domingo Colon that went south. Stokes promised the money and Dillard warned him that if she does not get the money, she would face an audit and they will both go to jail. Dillard asked what happened in the junkyard, but Stokes did not answer, reminding Dillard that she either got all the details of his work or none of them, so Dillard simply walked away from him. Dillard then decided it was best to leave Cottonmouth to use his own methods to locate the stolen money from Chico Diaz and Shameek Smith, turning a blind eye to whatever he did to achieve that goal as long as her reputation remained clean and she could continue her own work without running into legal trouble. Later that night, she began making pamphlets for the New Harlem Renaissance campaign, focusing on that work, rather than how she was using the money gained from the illegal deals with Domingo Colon and her own cousin. Receiving Half of the Money While working at the Crispus Attucks Complex, Dillard was visited by Cornell Stokes, who had his man Tone deliver half of the money that had been stolen by Shameek Smith. She states that it was not nearly enough, reminding him that the donation money helped to make his club and now that he made a gun deal with Domingo Colon, that could expose the both of them and wind up in jail. When Stokes stated that she was not his boss, Dillard told him to fix the problem or risk losing Harlem's Paradise and possibly going to jail. Having paused to mock Shades, Dillard was told by Stokes to focus on the political side of things and to let him focus on his job, to which she responds is to uncomplicate her life. Stokes then said her job was to turn his water into wine. He reminded her of Mama Mabel's quote "Family First," to which she agreed. As she said she would return to Harlem's Paradise; Stokes noted she did not like being seen around him, but she claimed that it was simply because of the music and she would be on him until she got the rest of the money. Stokes gave her his word that the situation will be resolved. | Powers = | Abilities = * Master Politician: '''Mariah is a councilwoman so she must be able do political things. She also has political campaign and it's reputation. She believed that power came through politics rather than criminality. * '''Master Manipulator | Strength = | Weaknesses = | Equipment = | Transportation = | Weapons = | Notes = | Trivia = | Marvel = | Wikipedia = | Links = }}